Dispensing apparatus



Aug. 6, 1929. M, ZUCCHELU 1,723,497

DISPENS ING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 4, 1928 A l Mafia @wlw/ff,

Patented Aug. 6, 1929.

PATENT OFFICE.

m10 ZUCCHEDLI, OF HILLSDALE, NEW JERSEY.

msrmsme Prunus Application lied September n4r, 14928. Serial lo. 303,627.

' is available in cubes of uniform dimension.

Asis well understood, it is highly desirable that the lumps vof su ar be maintained in a sanitary and protecte condition, particularly in public eating houses. Not onl is the present device designed to protect t e substance from dust and casual dirt, but it is also maintained in ma azines which are inaccessible to the fingers o those desiring to use the sugar. At a single operation of the mechanism described hereinafter it expels only one lump of sugar from a magazine at a time. A further advantage lies in the conservation of the supply of su ar, since added effort is required to secure ad' itional lumps.

In accordance with the above, an object of this invention is to provide a machine which,

responsive to a manual operation, automatically dispenses a cube of lump sugar. A further object lies in the provision of a cabinet for maintaining the sugar in a sanita condition and entirely inaccessible to the gers of the user. .v

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the above character which has great capacity, a lurality of magazines being provided capa 1e of successive movement into a discharging position, thus multiplying the available supply by the number of magazines used.

Further objects and advantages will appear as the description of the invention proceeds and reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Flgure 1 is a view 1n elevation, partly in section, showing a prefererd form of the invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the device shown in Figure 1 with the top removed.

Figure 3 is a view in section, taken on line 3 3 of Figure 2, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a view in section, taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows. l

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3, showlng the dispensing mechanism in operating position. h

Referring to the above drawings, a indicates a sultable base provided with a pedestal whlch is formed integral with the bottom b of the cabinet. In' the form shown, the cabinet is generall recetangular'in cross section and includes slde walls b which may be secured to the bottom by screws shown at b. The cabinet is provided with a cap b which fits over the top thereof and is'removable. At one side, an aperture b* is formed in the side wall of the cabinet and rovided with a trap door b5 pivoted at b to t e side wall.

A shaft cis mounted in a step bearing b1 within the cabinet and secured at its up er extremity in abearing bs formed in bracin member b which extends between oppose side walls b. About the shaft is carried a sleeve d which is rotatable with respect thereto and formed with a ratchet d at its upper extremity to engage a pawl c mounted 'upon the brace b". The sleeve carries a block d which, in the present instance, is of hexagonal cross section, each side carrying a magazine e for receiving stacks of lum sugar. The magazines carry a bottom dlsc e which is formed with slots e2 as clearly shown in Figure 2 for-permitting a dispensing finger to eject the bottom lump of the magazine when a ma azine has been moved to a predetermine' position.

Sleeve d has securedl thereto at one extremity, a nut d to which is secured a ratchet disc d This ratchet disc cooperates with a ratchet disc d which is secured to the shaft e and rotation of the shaft c in the proper direction causes the teeth on the ratchet discs d* and d to engage to move the sleeve d and magazines e with the shaft c. This movement continues for the len h of a ratchet tooth, at which time pawl c engages in back of an adjacent ratchet tooth on the disc d to prevent retrogressive -movement of the magazine when the movement of the shaft is reversed. It will thus be seen that the shaft c may be returned to a 'ven position from wh1ch the operation was initiated to cause the disc d to move under the disc d* to engage the next series of teeth. The number of teeth on the several ratchet discs equals the number of magazines so that, as the shaft c is stepped around, the magazines will be moved successively into dispensing position to the rear of apertureb.

In order that the shaft c may be moved in the above manner, a ush rod f is slidably mounted in brackets f within the cabinet. Stops f may be secured to the rod to limit the movement thereof and a spring f3 'is provided to return the'rod to a normal position, causing reverse movement of the shaft c. At the lower extremity of the rod f a pin f is formed. This pin enga es a slot g in crank g, the latter being keye to a countershaft h. Suitable brackets Il. may be provided in the cabinet to mount the shaft h and an ejecting finger h2 is carried by the shaft to engage the lowest lump of sugar in the magazine which has been moved to an ejecting osition rearwardly of the aperture b. A r engaging the lump the finger rides in the slot ez to continue the ejecting movement. The shaft L additionally carries a crank z' which is pivoted to a link z" for transmitting the movement of the shaft h to the shaft c. A collar c secured to the shaft c is provided with an arm cs to which the link i is pivoted, thus completing the connection between the shaft c and the push rod f.

The operation of the device is as follows. Having filled the magazines with the substance to be dispensed, the pushlrod f is depressed. This causes the shaft h to be turned to cause the ejecting finger h to move forwardly to engage the bottom lump in one of the magazines. At the same time, the shaft his moved with respect to the disc dt, the latter being held in position by the pawl c', until the teeth of the disc d5 engage behind the next series of teeth on the disc d. After the lum has been ejected, the s ring f3 retracts t e push rod f and the Enger h2 is moved rearwardly out of the slot e2. Simul` taneously therewith, the magazine is rotated to position the next chamber in back of the aperture b. Upon again depressing the push rod f, a lump is ejected from the next magazine and, in this manner, the several magazines are used successively.

It will be apparent that minor changes in design and arrangement of parts ma be made without departing from the scope ofY the present invention save as defined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A dispensing device comprising a pluinsa-:ei

rality of magazines, an e'ecting arm, means' to mount the arm pivotal y for movement in opposite directions to cooperate with the magazines, and means to move the arm in one direction, and means to -cause movement of the arm in the opposite direction to move the magazines.

2. A dispensing device comprising a plurality of magazines mounted upon a rotatable member, an ejecting arm, means to mount the arm for movement in opposite directions to cooperate with the ma azines, and means to move the arm in one irection, and means to cause movement of the arm in the opposite direction to move the rotating member.

3. A dispensing device comprising a plurality'of magazines mounted upon a rotatable member, an ejecting arm, means to mount the arm for movement inopposite directions to cooperate with the magazines, and common means to move'the arm in one direction, and means to cause movement of the arm in the opposite direction to move the rotating member.

4. A dispensing device comprising a cabinet, a sleeve rotatably mounted within the cabinet, a shaft within the sleeve, a plurality of magazines carried by the sleeve, an ejecting finger, and means to operate the finger to eject a substance carried in the magazine, the movement in the reverse direction serving to rotate the sleeve'.

5. A dispensing device comprisin a cabinet, an aperture in the cabinet, a s eeve rotatably mounted within the cabinet, a shaft within the sleeve, a plurality of magazines carried by the sleeve and adapted to be ositioned at the apertures successively, rate et and pawl mechanism to prevent movement of the sleeve in one direction, ratchet mechanism between the shaft and sleeve to impart movement of the shaft to the sleeve in one direction, an ejecting finger cooperating succes' sively with the magazines, and means to impart reciprocating motion to the shaft and finger to cause the finger to move into a magazine and subsequentl move the sleeve.

This specification signe this 27th day of June, A. D. 1928.

MARIO ZUCCHELLI. 

